. >> on the republican side, how would a vote on either the fiscal cliff or raising the debt ceiling help the gop make their case? i am not entirely sure that it would. i am not sure hal and effective issue it would be pure >> the houses out now -- it would be. >> the house is out now. >> there is no public indication. you talk with some senators who yesterday were saying that not a lot is going on, more privately them publicly. but since then, we know that president obama and steve [indiscernible] spoke yesterday evening. the fact that neither side is leaking what happened on that call, you might say that they are trying to get back on track. they know that if they leak each other's confrontations, that is not good. there are only two participating really in this negotiation. and if they choose not to leak out that information widely, it is a speculation. >> what is the handle and how quickly could be brought -- what is the end goal and how quickly could be brought up for a vote? >> the goal is a down payment or some kind of thing for revenues, which is enough to get us past the fis